Hello friends today we are discuss this question, the question is -there any details in the poem ‘Asleep in the Valley’ which make the reader anticipate the truth spoken in the last line? Give reasons for your answer.
One of Arthur Rimbaud’s early poems, ‘Asleep in the Valley’ has ironical connotations. The last line of the poem unveils to the reader the destruction caused by war-that is claiming an innocent life prematurely. The peacefully asleep soldier is actually a dead person with two bullet wounds in the side of his body. This image is a sudden shock to the reader. But, I think that the poet has provided a few clues for the reader to anticipate the truth spoken in the last line of the poem. The open-mouthed sleeping posture of the soldier, his pale face with a gentle smile on his lips, the buzz of the insects not disturbing his sleep and his sleeping under the open sky in the broad glare of the daylight with his one hand on his chest instead of keeping it on his eyes to obstruct the bright sunlight, are all suggestive of the young soldier’s death.